Methali (proverb)
Kazi
mbi si mchezo mwema
Translation:
Bad work is not good play.
This
addresses the logical fallacy of seeing things in a linear spectrum. Like “one
thing is absolute in relation to another”, or “evolution”. The illusion of evolution. Good work
and good play may both be profitable, but bad work does not exist on the
spectrum towards good play, therefore nobody should expect any gain from it,
let alone “more profit than good play” according to the spectral model illusion.
A similar proverb posted before is:
Ukuukuu
wa kamba si upya wa ukambaa
Translation:
the aging/wearing-out of a processed dry rope is not newness of a rudimentary
wet cord.
Ukambaa – rudimentary cord of plaited wet
bark-strips of some trees or the leaf-strips of banana trunk. (single-use/fragile)
Kamba – processed plaited dry rope, cord,
string. (reusable/durable)
The
introduction of reforms, new ideas or revolutionary ideas is often met with resistance
and resentment. Explanations that elaborate concrete benefits and costs
expected to all concerned is the only way to convince for acceptance. We may
look at one example of the intervention of Henry Cabot Lodge in 1890 to explain
to American citizens the best approach and benefits of adopting the international
copyright act that was consequently enacted in 1891.
At the same time, it must be remembered
that the zealous claim of the earnest supporters of any proposition, no matter
how well founded, are sure to arouse resentment, while human nature is
constituted as it is now and always has been. Henry “Hotspur” Percy was the
type of humanity when he was angry with the suited-up court official who told
him, while weary from the fight, that
“The sovereignest thing on earth. Was permacetti
for an inward bruise.” (a Shakespeare quote),
Henry Percy’s natural and proper
instinct was undoubtedly to reply that people before had always got along very well
with mutton tallow, and that he was opposed to “spermaceti;” but as there were
other circumstances of irritation, his answer was even less benign.
Henry
Cabot (1890). "International Copyright". The Atlantic. August 1890.
pp. 264–271
Mutton
tallow is probably the oldest common oil used in human societies. It is
rendered fat from cattle or sheep. It's processed from suet, the raw form of
the fat, and can be stored without refrigeration for long periods of time.
Mutton tallow has a number of uses and is still in some demand today. Tallow
may be used in food, lubricants, personal care, soap making and a number of
other fields. As a skin care product, it penetrates the skin, providing more
softening power than petroleum-based products, which sit on top of the skin. In
Gīkūyū, it is called Kīmengemenge. The oil
is extracted from processing of the fat excised from the tail of a fattened
ram. Unlike ewes, the fattened ram, ndūrūme ya gīcegū, was let to
grow a heavy fat tail, that would measure oftentimes over three kilograms. This
fatty tail was called kīmengemenge. To process the fat from its raw form
one had to cut up the fat into small pieces and simply let them fry in a pot
until the pieces dry up and float on the oil. Once the fat cools it is transferred
into a fat storage container, kīnandu kīa maguta, and stored in a private store. The dried-up
pieces, ngarango are eaten once they cool. Wrapped in honey, they will
last forever and are “food for the gods”. The separated oil is stored in
different containers where it cools into a jelly (tallow) that is applied on
the skin. It is highly penetrative and heals various skin maladies, as well as
leaving the skin looking smooth, soft and shiny. Kīmengemenge could
arguably be considered better than spermaceti, but it is definitely way superior
to petroleum jelly.
Spermaceti
is a waxy substance found in the head cavities of the sperm whale (and, in
smaller quantities, in the oils of other whales). Spermaceti is created in the
spermaceti organ inside the whale's head. This organ may contain as much as
1,900 litres (500 US gal) of spermaceti. It has been extracted by whalers since
the 17th century for human use in cosmetics, textiles, and candles. Spermaceti
wax is extracted from sperm oil by crystallisation at 6 °C (43 °F), when
treated by pressure and a chemical solution of caustic alkali. Spermaceti forms
brilliant white crystals that are hard but oily to the touch, and are devoid of
taste or smell, making it very useful as an ingredient in cosmetics,
leatherworking, and lubricants. The whaling industry in the 17th and 18th
centuries was developed to find, harvest, and refine the contents of the head
of a sperm whale. The crews seeking spermaceti routinely left on three-year
tours on several oceans. Cetaceous lamp oil was a commodity that created many
maritime fortunes. The light produced by a single pure spermaceti source
(candle) became the standard measurement of "candlepower" for another
century. Candlepower, a photometric unit defined in the United Kingdom Act of
Parliament Metropolitan Gas Act 1860 and adopted at the International
Electrotechnical Conference of 1883, was based on the light produced by a pure
spermaceti candle. This was consequently overshadowed by the development of the
petroleum industry from United States.
Petroleum
jelly is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons originally promoted as a topical
ointment for its healing properties. It was mainly used by Native Americans, of
which through technological transfer, European immigrants in north America learnt
of its uses and consequently led to the rise of the petroleum industry
globally. Native Americans dug sophisticated oil pits as early as 1415–1450 in present-day
Western Pennsylvania. Robert Chesebrough, a young chemist whose previous work
of distilling fuel from the oil of sperm whales had been rendered obsolete by
petroleum, went to Titusville, Pennsylvania, to see what new materials had
commercial potential. Chesebrough took the unrefined green-to-gold-colored
"rod wax", as the drillers called it, back to his laboratory to
refine it and explore potential uses. He discovered that by distilling the
lighter, thinner oil products from the rod wax, he could create a light-colored
gel. Chesebrough patented the process of making petroleum jelly by U.S. patent
127,568 in 1872. He had opened his first factory in 1870 in Brooklyn using the
name Vaseline, from which the patented product took its name.
The
best, surest, and most convincing way to argue a revolutionary idea or any
similar question is to stick to the facts and conditions which now confront us,
and to prove by them that the cause we advocate rests on grounds of right and
justice much stronger than anything which nature or abstract reasoning can give.
References
Henry Cabot (1890).
"International Copyright". The Atlantic. August 1890. pp. 264–271
https://mukuyu.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/kimengemenge-fat/
https://sciencing.com/mutton-tallow-6516251.html
Keoke, Emory Dean;
Porterfield, Kay Marie (2003). American Indian Contributions to the World:
15,000 Years of Inventions and Innovations.
TUKI (2001), Kamusi Ya
Kiswahili-Kiingereza; Swahili-English Dictionary. Published by Taasisi ya
Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili (TUKI), Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
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